flash point
or flashpoint
Also flashing point. Physical Chemistry. the lowest temperature at which a liquid in a specified apparatus will give off sufficient vapor to ignite momentarily on application of a flame.
a critical point or stage at which something or someone suddenly causes or creates some significant action: A 10 percent drop in mortgage rates will produce a flash point in the housing market.
a critical situation or area having the potential of erupting in sudden violence: The Mideast has been the flash point for a series of conflicts.
Compare Meanings
Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.
Origin of flash point
1Words Nearby flash point
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use flash point in a sentence
The incident is the latest flash point in how police use Tasers, particularly against the elderly.
Unarmed 75-year-old Tasered without warning by Colorado officer: ‘What did I do?’ | Julian Mark | July 23, 2021 | Washington PostIn sports, Lynch cites a global soccer scandal as a flash point for companies speaking out and becoming more supportive of athletes who do so, too.
Brands Continue to Back Naomi Osaka, Showing an Evolution in How Sponsors Treat Athletes | Sean Gregory | June 7, 2021 | TimeThe hope is by being proactive, keeping them safe, that hopefully we can ultimately prevent that flash point crisis moment.
Mental health law is flawed, critics say after shooting that left three dead | Alison Knezevich, Jean Marbella | May 19, 2021 | Washington PostThe flash points become issues of data rights rather than rights of way.
Any attempt to step around the fire engulfing the American zeitgeist using entertainment, spectacle or absurdity would be, again, an easy flash point to an angry debate regarding tone deafness or lack of awareness.
Marketing Briefing: ‘No inspiring message’: Humor, charity become main themes ahead of the Big Game | Kristina Monllos | February 2, 2021 | Digiday
Afghanistan, and the timetable for withdrawal, will once again be a flash point.
Debate Coach Brett O’Donnell’s Keys to Victory in Florida | Brett O’Donnell | October 21, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTIt is Spirit, the flash-point of the soul, which receives and transmits and which lives this living.
The Prodigal Returns | Lilian StaveleyThe flash point of an oil is that temperature at which it will form an inflammable vapor.
Mechanical Devices in the Home | Edith Louise AllenThe flash point of kerosene may be between 70 and 150 degrees Fahrenheit, depending upon the grade.
Mechanical Devices in the Home | Edith Louise AllenFor illuminating purposes, do not use kerosene with the flash point lower than 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mechanical Devices in the Home | Edith Louise AllenThey reached the flash-point of action at almost an identical moment.
The Life of Florence Nightingale vol. 1 of 2 | Edward Tyas Cook
British Dictionary definitions for flash point
the lowest temperature at which the vapour above a liquid can be ignited in air
a critical moment beyond which a situation will inevitably erupt into violence: the political mood has reached flash point
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for flash point
The lowest temperature at which the vapor of a flammable liquid will ignite in air. The flash point is generally lower than the temperature needed for the liquid itself to ignite.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for flash point
For a given flammable substance, the lowest temperature at which vapors passing from the substance into the air will catch fire spontaneously if a small flame is present.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Browse